The Rascal Theorist - Alright

Hear The Track Here

If you haven't been around for a while you may not know about Chicago based Muse Machine, or their even more elaborate predecessor LeO IcON9 ByTE19. Essentially a working group, it was obvious from the beginning to most Soundclick regulars that this was a band stuffed with talent. Since then Linwood Riley, Roscoe Foster, Ikhan and the rest have been making waves in at least two guises; Linwood Riley and his DC Comics fixated music and videos and the seamless, commercial product pumped out by Roscoe Foster aka The Rascal Theorist. One of my favourite tracks of all time is TRT's New Frequency (May 2009). It still gets played constantly in my house and is one of the most 'up' tunes I have heard in years.

As always though, you are only as good as your last track and when that was End Of Story (March 2010), a very clever rock track no less, it's going to be hard to follow and shows that the New Frequency album is going to be this years Must Have album. All twelve New Frequency tracks are online, some for listening, some for buying and I heartily recommend you check them out one way or another. Alright is also from the album and features Roscoe (lead/backing vocals and piano), Bobb e Voxx (Backing vocals - natch), Ikhan on bass and the enigmatic DT on the honkers (Ed: Brass instruments) and is - according to them - a 'Old School Funk Groove' Well, alrighty then, lets see... Mmmmm. Depends where exactly you went to school, I guess. If you were looking down on Chicago and happened to move your eyes due East for a stretch you would come across the place where THIS old school came from - Philadelphia.

That's certainly where the style and grace this track carries so well was learned and Roscoe and the boys do their usual bang up job on it. For me personally, it just reinforces my view on this particular songwriter who seems to skip from genre to genre with ease - and always with nearly impeccable production and performance. When I contrast this track with the overwhelming bulk of urban R&B on Soundclick, there is absolutely no doubt that The Rascal Theorist is way ahead of the game in every respect. As much as the songs he writes are little gems, without the family of musicians around him, I doubt that they would carry the impact they currently do. Take Alright for example, I was a bit thrown by the odd tuning in the verses at first, but by God it grows on you like Topsy. Remember you read it hear first: Album of The Year: New Frequency.

MUST HAVE nod to Philly.